Georgi Plekhanov

Georgi Plekhanov (29 November 1856-30 May 1918) was a founding father of Russian Marxism and a major revolutionary leader.

Biography
Georgi Plekhanov was born on 29 November 1856 in Gudalovka, Tambov Governorate, Russian Empire to a family of Tatars, and he was sent to the Konstantinov Military Academy in Voronezh in 1866. When his father died, he entered a metallurgical institute, where he met Pavel Axelrod and was drawn into the communist movement. In 1880, he went into exile in Switzerland, where he founded the Emancipation of Labor party and became a voice of the Marxist movement in Russia. He would also help in creating the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party, but he was hostile towards Vladimir Lenin and his Bolsheviks. He left Russia after the 1917 Russian Revolution and died in Terijoki, Finland in 1918. However, Lenin cherished his memory, and many Soviets were inspired by Plekhanov.